Bengals' Sam Hubbard follows must-see TD with unfortunate injury

The Cincinnati Bengals are fighting for their playoff lives and have to get past the Tennessee Titans if they want any chance of continuing to be in playoff contention. Fortunately, the Titans aren't very good and that allowed the Bengals offense to get a little more creative when they got into the red zone.

On 3rd-and-Goal at the Titans' two-yard-line, Joe Burrow threw a short pass to who else but Sam Hubbard, which tied the game up at 14 points a piece. Hubbard, of course, plays on the defensive side of the ball, so seeing him catch a touchdown isn't something that people expected.

Unfortunately, the touchdown ended up being the last impactful play that Hubbard would put together in the game. Moments later, he was declared OUT with a knee injury.

Sam Hubbard catches a TD, then is injured and has to leave the game

Hubbard hasn't been great this season but then again, the Bengals defense as a whole has been disappointing. When this team has at its peak, reaching AFC title games and even a Super Bowl during Joe Burrow's second season, it's because Hubbard and the defense were playing at a near-elite level.

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That has not been the case this year. The defense has looked better against weaker opponents like the Cowboys and the Titans but it's hard not to wonder what could have been if they could have been even just slightly below average during the first half of the season.

To make the postseason, the Bengals have to win out and hope that the Colts and Dolphins each lose at least two games and that the Broncos lose three of their final four games. It's going to be tough sledding for this team to get to the playoffs and their defense is to blame for them being in this position.

While Bengals fans love Hubbard, he's also been disappointing in his seventh NFL season. The Ohio State product was signed to an extension ahead of the 2021 campaign and will be a free agent following the 2025 season.